The art of attracting waterfowl with decoys goes back thousands of years. From ancient history it is known that the ancients formed decoys from rushes, reeds and small twigs. Due to their construction these decoys waterfowlere only suitable for use on dry land. That is they were not suitable for use in a floating mode. The art of decoy manufacture progressed over the centuries until a high point was reached in the manufacture of decoys from carved wooden blocks. While many types of wood have been used as a raw material for carved decoys cedar was a preferred material as the density of cedar is such that the resulting decoys would float in water in such a manner as to resemble a natural swimming waterfowl. While cedar produced excellent decoys the cost of the raw materials and the labor content in making and carving the decoys has severely restricted its use in modern times.
Subsequent to cedar material cork became a preferred raw material for the manufacture of waterfowl decoys. While cork has the proper buoyancy its usage has been restricted due to the excessive cost of natural cork.
With the advent of modern technology polymeric materials have become the most widely used material for decoys over the past twenty five years. Decoys formed from polymeric materials have been of two principal types these being hollow and solid. The hollow decoys are usually formed from hard unfoamed polymeric materials. The solid decoys are in turn usually formed from a foamed or cellular polymeric material. It is those latter mentioned cellular decoys with which the protective coating of this invention is particularly useful.
These cellular decoys are desirable in that they are light and easy to use and yet the density of the overall structure and can be easily regulated to produce a finished decoy that floats in the water in a manner which approximates live natural waterfowl.
In addition to the above described materials, fibrous materials have been shaped into decoys wherein the fibers have been waterproofed with a binder. This method of construction has been used principally on low cost waterfowl decoys.
The above mentioned solid waterfowl decoys are formed from a polymeric material which is foamed to produce a cellular structure, has achieved widespread commercial acceptance. In addition to being light in weight this type of decoy can be cheaply and easily manufactured.
While many types of cellular materials can be used foamed polystyrene is the most widely used material due to the fact that it is low in cost and easy to form it into a waterfowl decoy.
It is understood by one skilled in the art that the above discussion relates to the body which is used to form the waterfowl decoy. For various reasons decoy heads which are formed from other materials are often attached to the above described decoy bodies.
A common problem with all of the above desired waterfowl decoys has been durability. This durability problem has been two phased these phases being structural and surface. This invention is concerned with waterfowl surface durability.
Waterfowl decoys are often subjected to usage under the most adverse conditions. These conditions include rough handling and transportation and usage under freeze-thaw conditions. These problems make surface durability a major problem in that decoys often have to be refurbished after a single season os usage. This durabilty problem is particularly acute with decoys which are formed from cellular polymer materials as while these decoys have adequate structural strength, because of the cellular nature of the polymeric materials the surfaces of these waterfowl decoys tend to be soft and not abrasion resistant.